New Musical Express (NME)'s Scores

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For 6,298 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 55% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Lowest review score: 0 Maroon
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,465 out of 6298
  2. Mixed: 1,680 out of 6298
  3. Negative: 153 out of 6298
6298 music reviews
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    • 71 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Blanck Mass
    Benjamin Power, on his first record as Blanck Mass, isn't really breaking their spacey, rushing mould, instead slowing it down and ironing out the thrills.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Native To
    Though Gary Barber's half-spoken, oh-so-London urchin coo brings a little quirk to proceedings, for the most part Native To is a pleasant but not memorable listen.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Total
    Total couldn't be more mid-noughties if it came dressed in a geometric hoodie, and the result is a chopped-up, sample-heavy stew that's a whole load of fun if the Tales Of The Jackalope shebang was your Hacienda.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    SBTRKT
    What these tracks are, though, are lovingly programmed, laser-dappled, preening--thanks to Sampha's buttery soul voice--and glossy reduxes of late-'90s two-step and twitchy post-house that should be filed next to James Blake and Jamie Woon.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Rave On Buddy Holly
    A few of the songs stick too closely to the originals, going to show that it's best to do something daft and unexpected rather than just trace the lines of greatness. You can't improve on perfection, but you can certainly play around with it.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 10 Critic Score
    Gold Cobra
    It's difficult to believe Limp Bizkit could return after all this time somehow even more hateful than before.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Twist Again
    There's all sorts of other excursions as well; the benefits of having a home studio to get lost in.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    I Love You, Dude
    Yet cringingly vibed-up first words aside – where we're also leaving the Eurovision cheese of 2 Hearts--the follow-up to 2007's debut, Idealism, is not all bad.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Equatorial Ultravox
    Equatorial Ultravox is undeniably lovely, and the title describes the vaguely early '80s Mediterranean synth vibe pretty well. It's just not exactly essential listening.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    In and Out of Youth and Lightness
    Evan Patterson's lyrical turns of phrase are still subtly unsettling, and the overall collision of punk and blues is a bit like Grinderman, without the spectre of ironic smirking.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Torches
    There's no escaping it: Foster The People are a great pop band, and Torches pop production accentuates every handclap and harmony for maximum effect.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Shangri-La
    It would be alright if they believed this stuff, but it's all done with the detached sneer beloved of hipsters worldwide. They're faux-hippies, not real ones.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Sound Kapital
    Its nine tracks were composed solely on keyboards as the duo – Wolf Parade guitarist Dan Boeckner and wife Alexei Perry – forced themselves into a new songwriting regime.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Black Up
    On his Sub Pop debut, he's sliced off the excess, preachy rhetoric for something inventive, bold and brilliantly fresh.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    4
    There ain't too much here that's going to add to her legacy. Rather, there's the unmistakable sense of someone treading water, with even the OK bits here sounding uninspired.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    All Things Bright and Beautiful
    Soppy nostalgia that bares little else.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lupercalia
    It was a coming together of people and community, and it's therefore fitting that Lupercalia the album is a celebration too.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    In Your Dreams
    It's an album full of the sort of drippy ballads and droopy soft rock that should induce an involuntary gag reflex in anyone under the age of 45.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Is This Hyperreal?
    Pummelling electro punk at it's finest.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bon Iver
    Bon Iver is the sound of a man making peace with the world, saxophones and all.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
    The swagger is really what drives that point home. Casual, not-bothered insouciance drips from Go Tell Fire To The Mountain.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Diaper Island
    Sweeter than its landfill-conjuring name suggests, Diaper Island supplies the harsh guitar harmonics, reverb and claustrophobic atmosphere VanGaalen does best, but aligns them with some of his prettiest songs.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Kaputt
    Bejar creates an astonishing world in just nine songs; it's his finest work to date, and excessive, but irresistibly so.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    D
    White Denim (now a four-piece) have never been less than terrific, but as they move further from the garage and embrace their real love – early '70s Americana – they defy all probability.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Burst Apart
    A record that's every bit the sonic departure it had to be, it nevertheless recalls its forebear's themes, seeing matters of the heart from a more reflective stance.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    There Is a Way
    Produced by metal guru Ross Robinson, There Is A Way is a slicker beast than the Danan of yore, yet that rickety collision of a million ideas remains.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    England Keep My Bones
    With the standard set, Turner brings an almost literal meaning to the notion of 'traditional English punk' and, as always, it's a fearless venture for an artist with something interesting to say.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Leisure Seizure
    Vek truly exploits the benefits of being in a one-man band: all instruments and ideas can be used as often or as sparingly as he likes; the feelings of the Mellotron and crumhorn session musicians do not need to be taken into account.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Suck It and See
    In an age where even Britpop corpse-botherers Brother trumpet their desire to collaborate with Odd Future, the Monkeys have made a record heavily indebted to late-'80s indie and a small group of white, male '70s singer-songwriters: Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    David Comes To Life
    Behold their evolution: while 2008's 'The Chemistry Of Common Life' album was drenched in religious connotations and spiritual euphemisms, this time, their rock opera about romance and death at an English lightbulb factory (seriously) is theatrics personified, taking listeners on a quest while still abiding by their precious DIY ethic.
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